his death, there would not be another - because the Dalai Lama would not be reborn in China

unless Tibet is free from Chinese rule. China disagrees and is calling on the Dalai Lama

to respect the historic custom of reincarnation. There’s a lot to explain in there, but let’s

first look at the relationship between China and Tibet.

This is China and Tibet is here. The Tibetan people are a unique ethno-cultural group,

and this is the area that many Tibetans think of as their homeland. China, who currently

controls the area, only recognizes this section as being Tibet. They call it the Tibet Autonomous

Region and like to represent it as just that; an autonomous region of China under Tibetan

authority with an ethnically Tibetan chairman in charge. But in reality, an ethnically Chinese

branch secretary of the Communist Party is the real authority there and many Tibetans

argue that the Tibet Autonomous Region isn’t autonomous at all. It’s simply an occupied

area under Chinese rule.

And they have compelling reasons to argue that point. Tibet had independent rule under

the authority of the previous 13th Dalai Lama and other Tibetan Buddhist leaders in the

beginning of the 20th century. In the 1940’s, China took over. Then, after the Communist

Revolution, the People’s Republic of China invaded and incorporated Tibet in 1951. They

did this by ousting the old Chinese Government, installing the current 14th Dalai Lama as

the new leader of Tibet, and getting him to sign the Seventeen-Point Agreement. He was

15 at the time, and the agreement was supposed to guarantee Tibetan regional autonomy and

the respect of Buddhism in the region. This was in exchange for allowing China to set

up civilian and military headquarters inside Tibet.

The Dalai Lama has since repudiated this deal. He was also involved in the 1959 Tibetan Uprising

that ended with 80,000 Tibetans, including himself, fleeing the country for Northern

India. They live there today in exile and still campaign for Tibetan freedom.

They fear that China is intentionally undermining Tibetan culture and way of life by encouraging

mass Han Chinese migration to Tibet, building up industry there, and systematically pillaging

Tibet’s resources. They also accuse China of human rights violations and widespread

persecution of the Tibetan people. On top of all of this, China also has a history of

undermining the Buddhist Religion.

The Dalai Lama is both a political figure and a holy figure in Buddhism. He’s the

reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama and was identified as such, as a boy for his ability

to recognize items owned by the previous Dalai Lama. Buddhism also has the The Panchen Lama,

who’s the second most important figure in Tibet's spiritual hierarchy. He also plays

a role in finding the next Dalai Lama. In 1995, the Dalai Lama identified a boy as the

new Panchen Lama, but the Chinese Government detained the boy and he hasn’t been seen

since. China also installed their own choice for the Panchen Lama, but he’s not accepted

by most Tibetans.

With all of that in mind, you can see why the Dalai Lama would want to get the word

out ahead of time about his not reincarnating in China. When the Dalai Lama passes on, there

is reasonable concern that China will try to install their own representative in his

place, which would obviously be detrimental to the fight for Tibetan freedom.

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